Redneck Review!
No. 222 - 7/29/2019
This review today might be called "Refreshing pause #2."  Last week a brief description was given here of a weekend spent with sons and a cousin in the mountains of central Idaho.  Our lodge took us back dozens of years!  We survived with no electricity, no inside water or restroom, no phone service, just a whole lot of "No's" modern people enjoy.
That review closed with "Stay tuned for the rest of the story!" With political implications! So what unusual "pluses" did the weekend provide making the trip a memorable one? First, the realization that early Americans found their way into a wilderness extremely hard to get to. Then to discover gold and other valuable metals that triggered mining in the area, where my father worked and our family lived from 1940 to 1943. Next, to establish a small community that worked a gold mine for several years, in an area high in the mountains and snowbound for a good part of each year. Anyone attempting a trip back to the area today should be amazed at the effort then needed to discover and work the area under difficult conditions. It gives a definite look into the character of the people and families who first moved into the area sometime after Lewis and Clark's trip in the early 1800's. And the lodge where we stayed definitely gave us a feel of what life might have been like in those early days.
Second is the realization that our state and our nation is rich in natural resources which are still of use and being discovered today. In addition to the gold and other valuable minerals that are still being mined, we traveled a few miles from our lodge to a "Crystal mountain," where an entire mountain glistens with crystal onyx outcroppings, with small to huge chunks of white crystals lying all around.  A computer search shows pictures of jewelry utilizing this amazing mineral.  And a list of the many other natural resources our state has been given, like recently discovered gas and oil fields, would be too large to include here.  The continuously flowing hot water that flows through the pool at the lodge and other sites around the state also testifies to the wealth of the natural resources our area has been gifted with.
Finally, the quality of the people who live in the area, and who come there to recreate and enjoy the surroundings, is also a big plus for the future of our country. We personally were invited back in coming years to this same rustic place or others like it, by people who enjoy the simplicity of the living conditions found there.  At the only eating place, or "cafe" found anywhere in the area, we found the friendliest owners and attendants, and the people from the area who travel there and patronize the place.  One young couple there from Texas greeted everyone as they came into the place, and was noticed packing a big pistol hanging from a holster on his right hip. Other visitors from all over enjoying the area could be seen interacting and visiting with others, some local and others from far off various places.
One piece of information learned triggered the "With political implications" remark ending Review 221.  Many of you have seen older eating places covered with all kinds of tidbits left by visitors:  calling cards, paper notes, dollar bills, etc., all with names of folks who were there, and were encouraged to leave a memento behind. This place was covered, walls and ceiling, some dated back decades!  BUT, we were told someone complained, and that a government agency of some kind had said they MUST COME DOWN, at least ones on walls, "for health reasons." At this point, my reaction was, ENOUGH!  "Leave us alone!"  Peaceful and relaxed areas like this "Do not need outsiders from urban cities telling them how to live"!   PERIOD!.  One gets the feeling that far too many directions come today from the top down, telling local and peaceful people how to live and do business! Then or now, are we not able to take care of ourselves?
Jake Wren

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